Stocks See Further Upside Following Early Upward Move - U.S. Commentary

3/5/2013 11:04 AM ET

After moving mostly higher in early trading on Tuesday, stocks have seen some further upside over the course of the morning. The major averages have climbed firmly into positive territory, with the Dow reaching a new record intraday high.

A positive reaction to news from overseas has contributed to the rally on Wall Street, as the news has offset some of the recent concerns about the outlook for the global economy.

The news out of China has contributed to significant strength among steel stocks, as reflected by the 2 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. The gain by the index comes after it ended the previous session at a nearly three-month closing low.

Housing stocks have also shown a strong move to the upside on the day, resulting in a 1.9 percent gain by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. Semiconductor, networking, and transportation stocks are also posting notable gains amid broad based buying interest.

The major averages have pulled back off their highs for the session in the past few minutes but are holding on to strong gains. The Dow is up 154.36 points or 1.1 percent at 14,282.18, the Nasdaq is up 40.33 points or 1.3 percent at 3,222.36 and the S&P 500 is up 16.66 points or 1.1 percent at 1,541.86.